Author Archives: Angie Valinoti

Achieving teaching excellence

The Centre for Study of Higher Education (CSHE) is very proud to announce that AdvanceHE now recognises 77% of the University’s academic and teaching staff as Associate Fellows (32%), Fellows (63%), Senior Fellows (4.6 %) or Principal Fellows (5). This is well above the sector average of 47% and been achieved through a number of nationally recognised programmes, including the taught postgraduate certificate in higher education (PGCHE) and related programmes for early career academics.

The new Route to Recognition for Experienced Staff (RRES), launched in 2017, has also contributed to this success. CSHE has trained staff as internal assessors and mentors for RRES, and successfully supported a 5-fold increase in Senior Fellows at Kent. This positive upward trajectory from 32% in 2015-16 means that the University is close to achieving its ambitious target of 80% of our teaching staff being qualified by 2020.

Carol Service staff tickets

The University Carol Service in Canterbury Cathedral is at 8pm on Monday 2 December. This annual event, partly lit by candle-light, will feature the University Chamber Choir and other performances as well as traditional carols and readings. The charity collection will be for Porchlight, addressing homelessness in East Kent.

Admission is by free ticket only, and ticket requests from staff are welcome until Friday 22 November. Details are available at the Event’s page.

Contact: Revd Dr Stephen Laird

Gulbenkian’s Christmas Season 2019

Gulbenkian’s Christmas Season 2019 is a scrumptiously festive selection box of treats! From merry music gigs, festive family events to comedy nights full of Christmas cheer, Gulbenkian has Christmas all wrapped up this December.

The Gulbenkian café is putting a special festive twist on their menu throughout December including pigs in blankets, pizza for mischievous little elves and a turkey and cranberry sauce burger fit for a king.

To see full listings and purchase tickets please visit the Gulbenkian’s website or call 01227 769075.

CSHE Seminar – Concerns about racism in our teaching and seminar discussions

Colleagues are invited to the CSHE Seminar titled ‘Concerns about racism in our teaching and seminar discussions’ presented by Professor Miri Song, SSPSSR. The seminar takes places on Thursday 21 November 2019, 1pm-2pm in the UELT Seminar Room, Canterbury Campus

Given the plethora of claims made about racism across a wide variety of social spheres in contemporary Britian, how do we as teachers and researchers deal with what can sometimes feel like a minefield? How do we balance concerns about addressing forms of racism with the need to preserve healthy debate and the exchange of views in the university context?

To confirm your attendance please complete the online booking form.

Panel event asks ‘Is Extinction Imminent?’

On Tuesday 19 November 2019, the School of Arts will host a panel discussion entitled ‘Is Extinction Imminent? Imagining Existential Risk in a Time of Climate Emergency’, which will take place in the Aphra Theatre at the University of Kent from 1pm to 3pm. The event will be chaired and hosted by Francesca Laura Cavallo, PhD candidate in History and Philosophy of Art.

The programme will feature the screening of Himali Singh Soin‘s short film we are opposite like that (Frieze Artist award 2019), and a panel discussion with Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator of General Ecology at the Serpentine Galleries in London; Simon Beard, Academic Programme Manager and Senior Research Associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge and a representative from Extinction Rebellion.

Extinction Rebellion activists took London by storm in April and October 2019 by framing their joyful pacifist action with die-ins and doomsday narratives. In academic terms, meanwhile, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk – a multidisciplinary team of scientists at Cambridge – has been urging attention to what philosopher Nick Bostrom dubbed ‘global catastrophic risks’, in a famous article (Bostrom, 2013). As both agree that threats to the survival of humanity must be tackled immediately, the challenge is the speculative nature of long-term forecasting and the need to communicate urgency for what transcends one life span. Artistic practice, on the other hand, has long engaged with speculative futures, paid attention to the signs of endangered life and encouraged reflection on what may be, stretching our perception of geological deep time into a future behind our lifetimes. As Jacques Attali put it: ‘Like everything that is out of our control, the long term is frightening – unless it fosters a form of utopia that would allow us to believe that, purely by dint of our will, tomorrow will be the best of the past and the present combined’ (Attali, 2015).

In more practical terms, alarming visions of environmental disaster are tempting, suggesting shaking the public from complacency and short-term thinking, even as they bypass any uncertainty and inevitably (over?) simplify. Yet, at least before the impact of Extinction Rebellion, stark and immediate portrayals of climate change threats have not clearly been effective.

The event is open to all and free tickets can be booked through the Eventsbrite page.

The event is generously supported by the School of Arts Graduate Study Committee, with special thanks to Studio 3 Gallery, Aesthetics Research Centre, Yasmine Rix and the Critical Studies for Risk and Uncertainty Research Centre.

Insight into Fintech day for Kent students!

On Thursday 31 October, the Success Accelerator Programme brought 15 talented second-year students to London to experience the Fintech industry. Hosted by Investment 20/20; a careers site for aspiring investment management graduates, who offer a graduate trainee programme with 42 partner companies. The students received an introduction into Fintech, with speakers from Fintech start-ups and financial services, who spoke about the developments within this emerging industry.

Following this, the group had the chance to partake in a speed networking session, with city professionals, working in a range of Fintech companies.

During the afternoon, the group were joined by Success Accelerator mentors, who networked with the students over lunch. A couple of our alumni; Sheyi Lisk-Carew, Reema Raisinghani, Luke Bewley and Michael Thurlow also shared their career insights during a panel talk, discussing their career paths since leaving Kent and their current roles within procurement, data and market analysis and consultancy.

The Success Accelerator Programme, which is sponsored by the Kent Opportunity Fund, aims to inspire students at Kent to achieve a career in the City. The programme includes students from the School of Economics, Mathematics, Statistics, and Actuarial Science and Law. Currently, there are 16 alumni mentors, all professionals dedicated to improving outcomes for those students looking to achieve their own version of success by gaining employment in London.

This was a fantastic event, which gave students an awareness of what investment management involves and its importance, how Fintech plays a huge role in the success of the industry and the opportunity to meet a variety of people who work in the sector. We would like to thank Investment 20/20 for hosting us and we look forward to visiting them again in the future.

Join us for some glow-in-the-dark fun!

Ever wondered how you could make your favourite activities that little bit more fun? Well grab your mates, put on some neon clothes, don those glow sticks and join us for this term’s UV nights at the Sports Centre!

On Monday 2 December we’ll be hosting UV sports including korfball, netball, dodgeball and many more. We’ll also be running two sessions of our very popular roller disco.

On Tuesday 3 December we’re putting on very special UV fitness classes to get your blood pumping. Afro House Hiit, BodyPump, Strong by Zumba and Spinning are all on the timetable for the evening.

Visit our UV sports night webpage for the full timetable, booking and payment details.

Patricia Novillo-Corvalan talks ‘Institutions of World Literature’

Dr Patricia Novillo-Corvalan, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Literature, was invited to speak at the ‘Institutions of World Literature’ workshop in London on Tuesday 29 October.

This workshop investigated the twin processes of institutionalisation and internationalisation of literary studies. What was the relationship between them in different nations and at different times? What is the influence of migration and international collaboration in the institutionalisation of letters in a national context? How are theories of world literature shaped by institutional histories? And how can sociological approaches, in particular Bourdieu’s field theory, help us navigate these questions? We aim to discuss these issues in a comparative and global context. This event is part of the TORCH Global South Fellowship scheme.

Patricia says: “The workshop created a productive dialogue between the global North and the global South, a dynamic exchange made possible through the interaction of truly transnational research networks. These transcontinental multilingual dialogues enabled the recovery of neglected literary histories, especially by situating global South spaces at the foreground of these debates, creating meaningful interactions that can overcome the homogenising and monolingual tendencies of world literature approaches”.

Patricia will also be holding another workshop on ‘Modernism and Translation: A Workshop’ at the University of York on Friday 22 November.

Give the gift of wellbeing this Christmas

This Christmas, treat someone to the unique gift of wellbeing with our vouchers for Kent Sport membership and the Physiotherapy Clinic. So if you know a student, staff member, alumni or member of the public in need of some wellbeing, then get in touch!

For all voucher enquiries*, please email memberships@kent.ac.uk

Check out the Benefits of membership and prices and the Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic.

*Excludes Pay to Play. Membership vouchers for University of Kent student or staff members can also be purchased at reception. This will be added to their Kent One card upon purchase. Vouchers for membership available to buy until 16 December 2019.

BAG week – save the date

Belong and Grow – it’s your BAG week, or #BAG week took place in May 2019. The aim of the week was to celebrate diversity, promote wellbeing and encourage learning for all staff and students. The week encompassed Learning at Work Week, EDI, Mental Health awareness, Deaf awareness week, IDAHOT and the staff networks. Every event was under the umbrella of one of the aims of the week. Our ethos was that there should be something for everyone – find your ‘BAG’. What’s one person’s bag, may not be another’s.

The week involved over 40 bookable events at Canterbury and Medway – a complete variety of events facilitated by Kent staff:

Wellbeing events, such as Mindfulness, Yoga, Tai Chi, a guided walk around the Labyrinth and Reflexology.
Digital training, such as Mind Mapping, MOOCS, and the digital future.
EDI/Protected Characteristics sessions, such as LGBT allies, Non-Binary, You don’t look your age, Unconscious Bias, Deaf awareness.
New skills and hobbies, such as writing, crochet, knitting, Park Run.
Drop in sessions about Apprenticeships, Careers, a #MeToo Harassment session and our Uni Kent Boob team ran CoppaFeel information sessions.

Kent Sport also put on special events, such as Japanese Swordsmanship, lifting and many more; making the overall total more than 50 events, all open to staff and students.

Over 400 people enjoyed events during BAG week 2019. Every event was about learning; whether a new skill, developing existing knowledge, participating in discussion, or just relaxing as part of learning how to look after your wellbeing at work.

AND we are doing it all again in May 2020, so save the date – w/c 18^th May 2020.

If you have an interest or speciality and would like to facilitate a BAG week session for us in 2020, please email LDev@kent.ac.uk